Honolulu’s Hannermann Shows His Budget

Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann released his fiscal 2009 budget proposal Monday, saying he wants to resolve a projected $128 million shortfall with $78 million in cuts and $50 million in revenue increases.

The mayor said his $1.81 billion operating budget proposal is only 0.28% higher than the current year budget.

“We are holding the line on overall spending despite the increase to fixed costs in several areas, such as pay increases for police officers and firefighters that were already approved through collective bargaining and total $20 million; debt service payments, which will increase by $24.2 million; and employer health contributions, which will increase by $16.5 million,” Hannemann said in a news release.

His budget proposal includes $1.7 billion for Honolulu’s capital improvement program, driven largely by $1.1 billion to fund the beginning of construction for the city’s planned rail transit line.

The transit line is being financed with proceeds from a dedicated surcharge to the general excise tax.

“Taking transit-related spending out of the picture, our proposed CIP budget is actually far smaller than in previous years,” Hannemann said.

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